Fact Sheets:
Sderot - The Human
Dimension

(Updated May 2008)

Israelevacuated the Gaza Strip in 2005 with the expectation
that the Palestinians would take the opportunity
to build the infrastructure for a state
and demonstrate their willingness to coexist
with Israel. Instead of peace, however, Israel traded land for terror. Israeli
citizens in southern Israel have been targets
of a steady barrage of more than 2,400 rockets. The media has largely trivialized
these attacks, giving the false impression
that these are little more than firecrackers
that pose no threat to Israeli
lives rather than lethal, high-explosive
rockets meant to terrorize and kill innocent
Israeli men, women and children.

By focusing on the quantity
of rockets,
the media also minimizes
the impact on
the communities under siege and the lives
of individual Israelis who suffer from
each attack as well as the cumulative stress
of the ongoing bombardment. The human cost
of these unprovoked attacks can be seen
in the hospitals and cemeteries where the
dead and injured lay. The psychological
harm, however, is not visible. The Israeli
Center for Victims of Terror and War found
that 28 percent of adults and 30 percent
of children in the town of Sderot, the
principal target of Palestinian
terror attacks, have post-traumatic
stress disorder.

These are
some of the stories of the people affected
by the terror war in Sderot and the surrounding
communities:

Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired 21 Qassam rockets into the western Negev on May 10, 2008, causing a few minor injuries as well as some damage to buildings, including a Sderot synagogue and a structure near Sapir College. Other rockets landed in open areas, with one setting a Sderot field ablaze. Earlier on May 9, an Israeli was killed in a mortar attack, named Jimmy Kedoshim, 48, as he was tending the garden of his home on Kibbutz Kfar Aza. There is no early warning system for mortar shells in the Negev, like the Color Red rocket warning system, and with the exception of the hitchhiking station and some of the buildings for children, the kibbutz buildings are not reinforced. “Since there’s no Color Red system against the mortars it’s hard to know when an attack is over,” says one kibbutz member. “Everyone is anxious all the time and every loud noise alerts everyone.” (Haaretz, May 11, 2008)

The western Negev suffered yet another day of Kassam rocket attacks on April 28, 2008, with at least ten rocket strikes registered in the early morning. Four of the rockets were launched in a simultaneous barrage at 11:00 a.m., with two landing in the Sderot city limits. One of the rockets scored a direct hit on a house, while the other landed next to a school. Magen David Adom paramedics treated a number of people for shock following the strikes. (The Jerusalem Post, April 28, 2008)

A four-year-old boy, Amir Arad, was lightly injured by shrapnel after a Qassam rocket landed in Kibbutz Gevim in the western Negev. Ilan Arad, the boy’s father, recalled the attack: “We had just returned from the north and the boy was sitting at the back seat of the car. As we arrived at the community we heard the Color Red (alert system), and the Qassam landed in our backyard. The shrapnel infiltrated the car near the fuel tank and hit the boy’s shoulder. He was evacuated to the hospital for medical treatment.” His mother Lior said that the family decided to leave the community after a Qassam rocket landed in the area the week before. “We went to visit my parents in Rosh Hanikra and stayed there for a few days. As we entered the kibbutz, we heard the Color Red. Amir was still buckled up, and then we heard the explosion and the shrapnel flying. My daughter screamed that Amir had blood coming out of his shoulder. Magen David Adom crews began tending to him and evacuated him to the Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon.” The family’s car and a nearby building sustained light damage in the rocket attack. The rocket was fired minutes after another Qassam landed in an open area within the Sdot Negev Regional Council. There were no reports of injuries or damage in the earlier incident. (Ynet, April 21, 2008)

Shortly after a student at Sapir College in Sderot was killed and one other person was wounded by shrapnel in a Kassam rocket attack on February 27, 2008, a barrage of four rockets struck the Ashkelon area. The Sapir College casualty was reported to be a 30-year-old male student. He was critically wounded when a rocket hit a parking lot on the western Negev campus, and died shortly after being evacuated to Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon. At least five other people were reported in shock after the attack. David Barnan, head of the college’s students association, said he ran to the scene of the explosion and was shocked. “I can’t put it into words,” he told Army Radio. “This is our country,” he said. “We will stay alive, we continue our studies, we will continue to do all the things we need to do, and speaking for myself, I can say we’re not afraid of anyone.” At least 40 Kassam rockets were launched at southern Israel on the afternoon and early evening of February 27, 2008 from the Gaza Strip. (The Jerusalem Post, February 27, 2008)

A 10-year-old boy sustained serious injuries to his arm when a Qassam fired by Palestinians in north Gaza landed near a school in Sderot on February 25, 2008. Yossi Haimov returned from school on Monday afternoon together with his eight-year-old sister, Maria. Maria later said that after returning from school, she and her brother left their bags in the house and went to visit a friend and later went out to the backyard. “We heard the Color Red (alert system), quickly ran and hid, there was a small ‘boom,’ and then when we came out there was once again a strong explosion. We hid near the wall and then the shrapnel hit Yossi in the shoulder and his entire shoulder was filled with blood,” she recalled. “We both quickly ran to a grocery store, screaming. The grocery store owner quickly called for an ambulance and they took Yossi to the hospital,” Maria said. “Yossi didn’t cry, he only kept telling me that it hurts. I don’t remember much from the injury. All I remember is that there was a lot of smoke, and when I saw Yossi’s shoulder with blood I could see that his entire sholder was broken.” Paramedics dispatched to the scene managed to stop the bleeding and evacuate the boy to the Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon. A number of other residents were treated for shock. The hospital’s deputy director-general, Dr. Ron Lobel, informed Yossi’s parentsthat the doctors had managed to save their son’s arm which was badly injured in the rocket attack. (Ynet, February 25, 2008)

Osher Twito, unconscious, at Barzilai Hospital

Osher Twito, 8,
and his brother Rami,19, were seriously
wounded when a rocket
fired from northern Gaza on
February 8, 2008, landed a few feet
from where the boys were standing.
One man said that he and his
friends ran to the attack site and
saw the boys lying on the ground and
bleeding, with Osher screaming, “Save
me, save me!” Magen David Adom teams rushed Rami
and Osher to Ashkelon’s Barzilai
Hospital where doctors operated to
save the life of the younger boy, who
suffered severe shrapnel wounds to
both of his legs. “When
Osher arrived here, his leg was completely
crushed,” said Dr. Emil Chai.
“It was clear that we would probably
have to amputate it. He underwent surgery
during the night and we are trying
to keep the second leg, but it’s
also in bad condition. Apart
from that, he has a hole in his chest
and his lungs are injured....His brother
Rami was also operated on tonight.
Both his legs are plastered now and
we presume that he will be transferred
to the orthopedic ward in the coming
hours.” The
brothers’ mother
and 15-year-old brother were also hospitalized
at Barzilai, where they were treated
for shock (The Jerusalem Post;
Ynet, February 10, 2008).

Two houses in Sderot
were directly hit by Kassam rockets
late on February 8, 2008, causing several
people to suffer from shock. One man
suffered from chest pains and was evacuated
to the hospital. Two other Sderot residents
suffered from light injuries after
falling down while looking for shelter
from the rockets (The Jerusalem Post,
February 8, 2008).

On February 7, 2008,
some 20 Kassam rockets pounded the
western Negev. One rocket struck a
direct hit on a garage adjacent to
a home in Sderot, setting it ablaze
and sending three people into shock

Tzahar Shitreet,
a deaf child, did not hear the
rocket that wounded him.

Two girls, Tchelet,
2, and Yardena, 12,
were injured from shrapnel February
6, 2008, when a rocket fired
from northern Gaza landed near a kindergarten
in their kibbutz. Tchelet sustained
shrapnel injuries to her leg, and her
mother suffered from shock. Yardena
was injured in the shoulder. Tchelet’s
mother had just picked up her infant
daughter from the children’s
quarters in the kibbutz when the Qassam
landed. “We were walking on the
road with the playground to our left;
it’s usually packed with kids
at this time of day,” she recounted. “Suddenly
I heard a whistling sound followed
by an explosion and fire. I was thrown
back by the force of the blast. Tchelet
was also thrown back and I heard her
call for my help. I picked her up and
noticed that she was injured in the
leg; her shoe was filled with blood” (Ynet,
February 7, 2008).

Fourteen-year-old
Hanny Moreno was in the house with
her grandmother and mother when a rocket
hit their house on February 5, 2008. “We
heard the Color Red alert system,” she
recounted. “We
ran to where my grandmother said was
the most protected place, as there is
no protection in the house. When the
alert ended we came out and then there
was an explosion. I flew against the
wall and felt the roof collapsing over
me. If I was a few meters away from the
place where I was standing, I would have
sustained more serious wounds. I thank
God I was saved. Half a year ago, as
I was making my way to this house, a
Qassam rocket landed right next to me.
A miracle saved me then too, because
I managed to run and find shelter in
time”
(Ynet, February 5, 2008).

Moshe Yifrach’s in-laws live
in one of the houses hit by a Qassam on February 5, 2008. “I
still can’t believe that people
came out of this house alive,” he
said.
“What happened here was simply
a miracle.
This house is full of people every
day. My wife is usually here at these
hours. Today, by chance, only my mother-in-law
was here with her daughter and 14-year-old
granddaughter. They don’t have
a protected space and the entire house
was simply destroyed. The granddaughter
was hurt by shrapnel, and my mother-in-law
and her daughter were lightly injured” (Ynet,
February 5, 2008).

A Sderot home
that took a direct hit

At least four people
were wounded, including a 5-year-old
girl, in a rocket
barrage on Sderot on January 15,
2008. At least 18 Qassams were fired
at Sderot during the afternoon, with
four rockets landing in town. The rocket
fire started at around 4:15 PM, with
one Qassm hitting a poultry processing
plant where Yakov Yakobov was killed
in November 2006 (Ynet, January 15,
2008).

On January 3, 2008,
a Grad Katyusha missile fired from
northern Gaza landed
near a tennis court in a southern Ashkelon
neighborhood. At least 10 people sustained
shrapnel wounds. Lior Ben Schimmel,
5, was at her neighbor’s house
playing with their children when the
attack occurred. The girl’s father,
Yaron, said, “I
heard an explosion and saw a Qassam
had hit the neighbor’s house.
I ran to the house and saw my daughter
drenched in blood.” He
said his daughter had already been
given psychological help to cope with
the stress of living under constant
attack (Israeli Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, February 1, 2008).

About 20 Qassam
rockets struck the western Negev on
December 20, 2007, just before the
launching of the post-Annapolis bilateral
talks. Eight people were
wounded. A Qassam rocket
fired from Gaza exploded outside an
elementary school in Sderot. Eighteen
people were treated for trauma, including
10 children (Israeli Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, February 1, 2008).

A Qassam rocket scored a direct hit on
a home in Sderot on December
13, 2007, wounding
the mother of the family who was hurled
against the wall by the blast. The house
suffered extensive damage.

Oshri Oz, 36,
was killed and several Israelis wounded
in a Qassam rocket attack on May
27, 2007, in Sderot. Oz, the married
father of a two-year-old girl, came
to Sderot to fix computers when his
car was hit (InfoLive.tv, May 27,
2007).

Shirel Feldman,
32, was killed and another man was
injured on May 21, 2007, when a Qassam
rocket hit a car at a commercial
center in Sderot (Ynet,
May 22, 2007 and InfoLife.tv, May 27,
2007).

On November 15,
2006, Faina (Fatima) Slutzker, 57,
was killed by a rocket that hit a
busy street in Sderot. The wounded
included one of Defense Minister
Amir Peretz’s guards,
Maor Peretz, and a 17-year-old boy.
Six others suffered from shock. The
bodyguard lost both his legs from shrapnel
(Haaretz, November 16, 2006;
Ynet, November 17, 2006).

It is difficult to imagine
another nation showing the patience and
restraint that Israel has
toward an enemy that has declared its
desire to destroy it and carried on such
a murderous campaign against its citizens.
Imagine what your government would do
if a neighbor began firing rockets into
your hometown and forced you to develop
a warning system that offered
only a few minutes to find shelter in
an attack. How would you carry on your
daily life when at any time a rocket
could fall from the sky and destroy everything
around you? What could you do to protect
your children, knowing that the enemy
does not hesitate to target schools and
playgrounds? Would you abandon your home
or would you demand that your government
make the deadly rockets stop?

Unfortunately, Israel has
no good options for stopping the terror
onslaught and its leaders continue to
use a variety of tactics to reduce the
threat. Meanwhile, the Palestinian
Authority leadership, which says
it wants peace, has done nothing to prevent
the terror. This means that innocent
Israelis who live nowhere near the disputed
territories remain in danger.

Photos courtesy of The
Israel Project. Top photo Lior Ben
Schimmel, 5, who was seriously
wounded when a rocket directly hit
her neighbor’s
home, where she was playing on January
16, 2008.